Record temperature of 106 degrees expected Friday in Kalamazoo, today's high adjusted upward to 102

Kalamazoo Gazette file photoA forecast updated just after 11 a.m. Thursday says the high in Kalamazoo for Friday will hit 106 degrees with a heat index that could be as high as 112 degrees.

KALAMAZOO, MI — If the forecast for Friday holds true, it will go down as the hottest day in Kalamazoo in more than 75 years.

The mercury is expected to shoot to 106 degrees on Friday, according to a forecast updated just after 11 a.m. Thursday by the National Weather Service in Grand Rapids.

The heat index could reach as high as 112 degrees, forecasters said.

“This is like the Dust Bowl days,” said Ray Hackman, a local weather expert, referencing the Great Depression and 1936 when Kalamazoo recorded its three hottest summer days ever.

"This will be pretty bad because we already have temperatures that aren’t going below the 80s at night," Hackman added.

The sweltering heat expected Friday comes on the heels of a 102-degree high for the Fourth of July, which was a record for Kalamazoo. The high temperature expected today — again, 102 — would also be a record for July 5, Hackman said.

“We certainly are starting off as the hottest July ever if it keeps up like this,” Hackman said. "If we get three days in a row that it hits 100, it’ll be the first time since 1936 that that happened.”

An excessive heat warning has been issued by the National Weather Service and is to be in effect until 8 a.m. Saturday.

Temperatures are expected to reach 95 on Saturday and then dip in to the low 80s by Sunday.

In addition to the heat, Hackman said conditions are also extremely dry. Between June and this point in July, the area normally would have seen as much as 4 inches of rain.